Firewatch – Too many fires, too little time.

Posted on by in Gaming

A few years ago, an indie game called Firewatch was released to the admiration of many people online – including the YouTube gaming community. You couldn’t really take two steps without stumbling across it but somehow, I managed to avoid it. Not that I wasn’t interested, it looked like a game that was right up my alley, but I didn’t want to spoil it for myself by watching someone else play it. Yet in typical gaming tradition, it sat on the pile of games that I wanted to play but never got around to, until about this time last year, where I live-streamed it as a change of content from my usual art streams.

If you’re interested in seeing some of my reactions to the game, I made a little compilation video of some funny moments including me going “mhmm sensual paint” (it makes sense in context I swear… kind of.) You can watch that here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1KbsP7QL8E . Firewatch is the kind of game you should experience yourself rather than watching a playthrough. It’s one of those games that tells a story that we all can interpret in different ways and I’m going to talk mainly about how the various events in the game affected me, so if you don’t want to be spoiled, don’t keep reading.

So, for those of you who are still here, let me at least explain what on earth this game is about. Firewatch is at its core, a story-driven walking simulator. You play as Henry, who has taken the job as a lookout in one of many fire towers in one of America’s national parks. He is to spend the entire summer looking out for fires, stopping people from setting off fireworks (darn teens) and generally just wandering through nature and hopefully not dying of boredom. The only person you really interact with is Delilah, your supervisor who speaks to you over the radio. You never meet her, but she is the one other voice you really grow to love throughout the game, which is one of many reasons her voice actress won an award CAUSE SHE’S BRILLIANT OK.

I cannot emphasise how beautiful this game is.

From the moment you start the game, Firewatch throws emotional turmoil at you. You constantly switch between Henry travelling to the watchtower and a series of screens telling stories from Henry and his wife Julia’s relationship – from their first meeting in a bar, to them getting a dog together and eventually, Julia is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and ends up being taken to be cared for by her family in Australia, whilst Henry stays behind. Even though it’s only a small section of the game, it’s more than enough for you to get invested in their relationship and gain an insight into why Henry has taken this job in the middle of nowhere. He doesn’t know how to cope; he needs time to process the events that have unfolded and how he might move forward. It’s something we can all relate to.

Speaking from personal experience, I think having to watch someone you love in pain is one of the worst things you can ever experience. Sure, when bad things happen to you it can weigh on you for the rest of your life, but you feel a sense of control over how you deal with it in the days that follow. Meanwhile, the sheer helplessness that consumes you when you are forced to just sit and watch those you care about suffer, cuts you to your very core. You want to help, to fight back but it’s beyond what limited powers you have and I think Firewatch touches quite well on this subject – by leaving titbits of information about Henry’s relationship with his wife, how he’s processing it all and what he might do after the summer ends.

Now, last week we talked about Alien Isolation and the profound impact that loneliness can have upon you, especially when you are in a stressful situation. With Firewatch, you instantly become attached to Delilah and her relationship with the player, as it’s the only real source of human contact you get throughout the course of the game. Apart from brief interactions with some no-good teenagers and reading the various letters sent between two of the park’s rangers, you only ever come across traces of other people. You grow to care for Delilah, quietly hoping that you’ll be able to meet her in person before the game ends. Everything you go through throughout the game’s story, she is right there by your side, giving her opinion and providing crucial context to what Henry uncovers.

Delilah, like you, wants to know what the only other person she can speak to, looks like. Because then it feels real.

One thing that Firewatch and well-produced horror games have in common, is how they build suspense and paranoia throughout their gameplay. Firewatch leans more on the paranoia aspect, as you slowly realise that it isn’t just hikers and campers in the woods around you. Someone is watching you, listening to your conversations and outright knocking you unconscious when you find the information you weren’t meant to see. An incredible example of this is when you are walking back to your tower at night, talking over the events of the day with Delilah when she casually says:

“Oh well, you’re back in your tower, I guess you need a drink too.”

At this point in the game, I was trying to find my way back and was making my way towards my tower, quietly considering the story implications of the events I had just experienced. My heart stopped momentarily in my chest when I realised, there was someone in my tower. Whether they were lying in wait to ambush me or leaving a threatening note next to my pet turtle, I had no idea. All I knew is that they were there, and I was not. (Side note, if they’d hurt Turt Reynolds I’d have burned down the entire place myself).

Throughout the game, you get to choose how you respond to Delilah over the radio. You can choose to be an ass and not respond at all if you want but anyone who does that is a monster and I’M COMING FOR YOU. This element of choice is there to help you build that relationship and to involve you more in the story, so that you are actually affected by the various events that unfold in the game, rather than just reacting by going “oh well, moving on”. This game is meant to impact you, everything from the art style to the voice acting and the soundtrack is built to involve you in this world and make you care about what is happening to it.

Cissy Jones, who plays Delilah, deserves so much credit. The game wouldn’t be the same without her.

One aspect of Firewatch you really don’t expect is your discovery in the ravine. Sure, the creepy person listening to you over the radio and throwing your typewriter out the window is a tad unexpected, but it isn’t entirely out of the blue. When you’re alone in an unfamiliar place, we all think that we are being watched or listened to. That paranoid part of our brain is screaming, considering the worst when in fact it’s probably just a squirrel. For games that have this central tension and suspense, you don’t expect them to do emotional impact well but oh boy does Firewatch punch you in the heart and brings tears to your eyes.

During your various treks through the wilderness, you occasionally come across various traces of a father and his son who used to live in the tower you now inhabit. They left after a short period of time, but Delilah got quite close to the young boy, Brian, and would lie to her superiors about his presence as children weren’t allowed to stay in the lookout towers. You find an abandoned backpack attached to a tree that contains various climbing gear that Brian presumably “lost”, as well as his hideout containing fantasy novels and role-playing games. Eventually, you venture into the ravine using the climbing gear and discover Brian. Or what remains of him.

There at the bottom of the cavern, is Brian’s decomposing body. One of his shoes had landed away from his broken form, which was nearly unrecognisable. At that moment, the music becomes sombre and you just stand there, staring at this little boy whose life was cut short. I realised what had happened the moment I saw the shoe, but I didn’t want to believe it. I stepped forward into the cavern, my eyes searching for what I hoped wouldn’t be there. When I saw him, the only thought in my mind was: “Did he suffer”. My brain saw this little boy, in agony on the cavern floor, clinging to life desperately as it seeped away from his shattered bones.

RIP Brian Goodwin. He deserved better.

You quickly realise that he fell and later discover that Brian’s father Ned has been living in the wilderness ever since his son’s death, hiding from the authorities and as a result, spying on Henry and Delilah. In the tape left to you by Ned, you hear the broken man recount the moments of his son’s death, talking about how Brian’s hook didn’t sink into the rock properly, how he was forced to watch his son fall without being able to help. Part of you wants to feel for him, as a father who lost his son but another part of you can only see that broken little boy in the dark cavern.

As you are airlifted out of the woods and away from the fire that is spreading, you just look at the credits as they roll – showing the pictures of Ned and Brian from their disposable camera, as well as the ones you took on that same roll of film. You don’t see Delilah again, with your final interaction being over the radio in a lookout tower, just like it was at the beginning of the game. A poignant end to a powerful game.

Honestly, I could probably go on about various elements of Firewatch for about a full-fledged novel’s worth of content, but I think what I’ve said in this article sums up the most powerful parts of this game. Grief, loneliness and paranoia are three of the most powerful things that can influence our choices and our memories. No-one is exempt from these feelings, regardless of whether you suffer from a mental health condition or not. You are not immune. So, reach out, there will always be someone there who is willing to listen.

I hope you enjoyed this article as much as I enjoyed writing it. A bit more of a sombre tone compared to last weeks but hey, don’t worry. We’re talking about Mario Odyssey next week and how it’s worldwide journey can bring joy to our lives in ways you wouldn’t expect.

Like, comment and follow my site to keep up to date on everything I’m up to! If you want to suggest future content, use the Contact Me page or tweet me at @OurMindGames on Twitter.

Till next week,

CaitlinRC

Alien Isolation – In Space, Everyone Hears Me Scream

Posted on by in Gaming

First things first, I’m not good with horror. Be it movies or video games, I prefer to immediately switch it off and go find literally anything else to do. Most of my experience with horror franchises is through watching various lets plays on YouTube, or through hiding behind my friends as they play it. It’s not that I don’t enjoy horror, I love the paths that it can follow and the tropes it can delve into without drifting too far from the norm. For example, my interest in psychology means that games that make use of sanity mechanisms or more subtle horror are fascinating to me, I just struggle to play them all the way through.

Part of this is due to anxiety. Horror games and their tendency to rely on jump scares, does not mix well with a tendency to have a panic attack when I get flooded with too many stimuli. Some people don’t do well with gore or can get too overwhelmed by all the events that are unfolding, meaning that for a lot of people, the horror genre of media is often one they can’t experience properly. Which is a bit sad, since there’s so much talent and enjoyment out there to experience.

Personally, I’ve never played Alien Isolation. Partly because it never really came on my radar of games to play and partly because I’d watched a few clips of others playing it, screamed my head off and had to go calm down in another room. However, one day when I was very unwell and had nothing to do, I was watching YouTube and ended up binging the entirety of Cryaotic’s playthrough of the terrifying extra-terrestrial game. The horrific alien and weird androids aside, the atmosphere and storytelling of the game are astonishing. Sure, there’s a few pacing issues but no matter what section of the game you are in, the constant paranoia and fear of the alien never truly subsides. EVEN IF YOU’RE IN SPACE.

I would not vacation here, nice air ducts and tech facilities but Alien kept eating my friends and family, 1 Star! – Probably Ripley, Trivago.

However, the simplistic nature of this survival horror game is what makes it such a staple of horror. Being based off a popular horror franchise helped massively with its appeal but when even five minutes of gameplay can unsettle you so drastically, you know you’ve done something right. Whether it’s the scrawls on the walls of the space station, the footsteps of the alien as it draws closer to your hiding spot or the constant paranoia that stalks you around the ship, Alien Isolation orchestrates an atmosphere of horror that fills you with a sense of dread that haunts your every move.

The most powerful aspect of this game is in the title. Not the alien, though that thing is horrific. It is isolation. Although you do interact with various people throughout the game, 90% of your time exploring the space station’s various nooks and crannies are spent in solitude. In fact, most of the people you come across are more likely to put a bullet between your eyes than help you open a door. The only person you can trust in those lonesome corridors is yourself. Sometimes you can go nearly twenty minutes without any dialogue or cutscenes, just the player and Ripley, staring into the darkness and praying that nothing is staring back.

It is in these quiet moments where the horror reaches its peak. You are instantly more aware of every creak in the pipes, every panicked breath escaping Ripley’s chest and the lines between reality and the game’s fiction seem to blur. People often talk about how they get sucked into books and games like it’s unfolding right before their eyes and they are just swept along like a leaf in the raging rapids of a river. Sure, jumpscares can be effective in keeping the players on their toes but the fear quickly fades. Meanwhile, with that constant sense of dread and each sound effect sending a shiver down your spine will stay with you long after the dramatic sequence has ended. The best games have a profound impact on you, and I think I speak for many people when I say, I don’t like walking under air ducts anymore (DON’T EAT ME I DON’T TASTE NICE I SWEAR).

I think the Alien needs to see a doctor, that’s not a healthy amount of drool. Or hygienic. GROSS

Humans are inherently social creatures. Even introverts like myself, need company from time to time, especially in distressing situations. Sometimes just letting someone know that they aren’t alone can be the greatest comfort you can give. So, the isolation that the game is so fond of, is probably the most powerful tool it has at its disposal. Sure, the big murderous alien is powerful but like many game mechanics, you can end up being more irritated with it than scared.

The alien is a known quantity. Once you’ve died to it a few times, you understand how it works and what you can do to avoid it. Loneliness and the darkness of the space station, however, are unknowns and this can be far more terrifying. We always talk about the dangers of the unknown, those gaps in our knowledge that could prove catastrophic. Our imagination runs wild with all the possibilities, something those with a mental health condition can understand better than most, as our mind becomes our greatest enemy. All the horrors in the shadows that you envisage, could just be products of your terrified brain, as it struggles to comprehend the events unfolding around it.

The first time you meet the alien, when it’s tail curls towards you and you’re certain it’s the end, is breathtakingly terrifying. The following sections are filled with panicked breathing, praying that it doesn’t see you even though you’re making an obscene amount of noise and sighs of relief when you see a save station. The combination of suspense, fear and paranoia culminates in a heart-stopping sequence that I think anyone who has played the game will remember far too vividly for their liking. This is the best part of Alien Isolation. It is you, in isolation, with an alien. (Wow Caitlin, it’s the title of the game, you’re so witty)

On a scale of 1-10, that’s a big old NOPE NOPE NOPE.

Despite all this marvellous suspense and paranoia that Alien Isolation builds up, it does fall flat in places. Once you’ve built up all this suspense, you need to do something with it. It’s a bit like building a house but instead of stopping once it’s complete, you add a conservatory. Then a pool. Then a third floor. Then a moat and drawbridge. At some point, you need to make use of all that you have been building, otherwise, there was no point in building it in the first place. Alien Isolation has some phenomenal moments of horror and primal fear, but it could’ve had so much more if the game flowed just a bit more smoothly.

Overall, I think Alien Isolation is one of those horror games that proves that it could terrify you with a tin can and some rice if it tried hard enough. You don’t need immense amounts of gore or zombies to traumatise your players, just have them stalked by a murderous, basically invincible creature! I would be excited to sit and play this some time, but I need to find a friend who is brave enough to join me first. I would also have to play it at midday in the sunlight with all the doors and windows locked and probably a bat next to me to protect myself.

Could I get some personal space? Please? NO, I DIDN’T MEAN THROW ME INTO SPACE!

What game would you like me to talk about next? I’m thinking we stick with the theme of isolation and loneliness in games and talk about Firewatch! If you’ve got any suggestions, drop them in the comments, leave a like on this article and follow my site if you want email notifications for whenever I publish a new piece! (Also follow me @OurMindGames on Twitter for all the behind the scenes goodies)

Stay away from air ducts,

CaitlinRC.

The Legend of Zelda, Breath of The Wild – Everything Is A Weapon If You Try Hard Enough:

Posted on by in Gaming

I’ll admit, my experience with the Zelda series has been a tad of a rocky one. My first experience of it was through the rather… interesting gameplay experience of The Phantom Hourglass. Or as young Caitlin remembers it, the utter anarchy that was The Temple of The Ocean King in the days where I didn’t realise, I could look up a walkthrough instead of just smashing my head against my DS for hours on end. To this day I still haven’t finished that game. Though I am a pro at the multiplayer minigame, where you chase your friend around as a series of phantoms (yes, this is how we spent our bus journeys on school trips).

A little while later, I tried Spirit Tracks and was immediately furious because WHY AM I ON A TRAIN NINTENDO THIS MAKES NO SENSE. Thankfully, my next two games were the 3DS remasters of Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask so I finally got to experience what everyone was on about when they raved about the Zelda franchise. I was then quite excited when they announced BOTW because it’d be the first Zelda game that I got to experience alongside the rest of the world, rather than having my playthroughs tainted by my friend’s opinions.

So, I saved up money from my job and spare bits from my maintenance loan (#Student Life) to buy a Nintendo Switch with Breath of The Wild. My mum described my face as I turned it on for the first time as a “child in a sweet shop with pocket money to spend”. Anytime I get to experience a new piece of technology that fascinates me, I revert to my five-year-old self. It’s apparently quite funny to watch (according to my family). During our nine-hour car ride up to visit our family in Edinburgh, I sat on my Switch and booted up the game, excited to lose myself in it as the countryside whipped past my window.

I have never been so angry at a train and I’ve been on Southern Rail.

I’m going to talk about a few mechanics that I really enjoyed, as well as the atmosphere and vibe that the game gave me but I’m not going to spoil any of the storyline. Obviously, a few familiar locations crop up as this is Nintendo and they’re the kings of recycling content (*cough* Mario *cough*) but anything you haven’t heard of before won’t be mentioned because there are always a few people who haven’t had the chance to experience it yet because consoles are expensive dammit.

Most people talk about the grand unveiling of the land in the tutorial, where Link steps out and stares out at the expansive wilderness. As beautiful as that is, something that caught my attention throughout the game was the voice acting. For those who don’t know, I do voice acting on the side as a hobby – helping with fan projects and contributing my voice where I can. So, to play an entry in a game series that has never really been touched by the voice acting community (no Link’s screams do not count), where the first thing you hear is a desperate call for you to rise and face your destiny, is phenomenal for someone like me. I can’t help but appreciate the nuance of each of the VA’s performances, the range of emotion and wisdom you can hear, as well as the personal touches each of them brings to the game.

Like voice acting, the soundtrack can make or break your experience of a game. I know I say this a lot but considering it’s all you hear for however long the campaign is, never mind any additional content, it needs to be good. I can confidently say that like many of the entries in the series, the music does not disappoint. From original compositions to twists on fan favourites, this game has a sound for everything. I can’t think of a single point where I deliberately turned off the music because I didn’t want to listen to it. When the endless stream of videos online that show off the music has over a million views a piece, you have done something right (or horribly wrong if you didn’t intend it)

For anyone who is curious, Patricia Summersett voiced Zelda in Breath Of The Wild – She has been behind many voices in gaming and films, including Hope Jensen from AC Rogue!

Every Zelda game has a “signature mechanic” – be that the Temple of The Ocean King, Rewinding Time or Kinstone merging. Breath of The Wild, though drastically different from many instalments in the franchise, does have a signature mechanic in the form of the Sheikah Slate. This magical I-Pad wannabe is one of the only things that DOESN’T BREAK. You can view your map on it, mark key locations, track your various quests and make use of the runes aka let’s kill everything with SCIENCE. One thing I will point out though is why on earth we are dropping what looks like some kind of magical water on this clearly advanced mechanical creation, I know Link can get rice but I doubt Ganon is going to sit and wait whilst you dry it out.

The runes available to you (after the tutorial) and their uses are:

  • Remote Bomb (Round) – When in doubt, blow it up with a bomb. Explosions are your friend, if you aren’t standing right next to it. The round ones can roll downhill and ruin the dinner of the enemies below you.
  • Remote Bomb (Cube) – Also good for blowing things up but doesn’t roll, making them better for when you’re being chased and can drop them behind you. Try not to mix the two of them up, I’ve blown myself off a mountain by accident far more times that I wish to confess.
  • Magnesis – Allows you to pick up and manipulate magnetic objects, mainly used for solving puzzles. Or if you’re my friend, picking up a metal block and using it to whack every enemy in his radius like a magic wrecking ball.
  • Stasis – Using this, you can temporarily stop time of a specific object e.g. that giant boulder that’s about to crush you. Sadly, you can’t slow down time and have Link do his best Neo impersonation, but if you hit a stopped object enough, when time resumes it will fly off and probably ruin some architecture.
  • Cryonis – Channel your inner Katara and bend the water into ice blocks that you can use to cross rivers, act as barriers against jerks throwing projectiles and raise treasure chests out of the water like the all powerful being that Link wishes he could be.

There’s also a camera if you want Link to become Instagram famous. It’d probably be the closest Link would get to talking and communicating with those around him.

Link is probably thinking about lunch. I know I would be.

Breath of The Wild is a vast, open-world experience. Once you’ve completed the tutorial, you can do anything and go anywhere you like – though I don’t recommend it. Want to climb a mountain in your underwear? Go for it. Have an urge to hit Ganon in the face with a mop? Try it. This game is one that rewards you for exploration and trying things, there is no defined way to do anything. If you meet the base objectives, it doesn’t care how you get there. Much like Skyrim, you are thrown into this massive expanse of a world and just left to it. Now that can seem scary to a lot of people because it can get overwhelming but the sense of freedom the game provides you with is a real breath of fresh air for the series, considering the NPC, problem, dungeon, reward cycle can get old very quickly.

If cooking in real life was as simple as cooking in Breath of The Wild, my student diet wouldn’t mostly consist of cereal, pasta and grapes. All you must do, is throw some ingredients into a cooking pot (available at most stables and in various towns/villages) and listen to the happy music until your meal is ready. Obviously, there is some finesse to it, as different combinations of ingredients will have different effects and rarer ingredients/recipes will have a stronger impact but the system for all of them is the same. Just don’t mix monster bits and regular food, keep the normal ingredients for meals and the monster bits for elixirs. Plus, some side quests require you to cook specific meals so it’s a nice respite from the various combat encounters you face on your adventure.

If you’ve never experienced a Legend of Zelda game before or are just unsure about whether you’d enjoy it compared with the other entries in the series, give it a shot if you can. Even after completing the main story, I went back and travelled around the world on my horse, completing side quests, battling monsters and hunting down every shrine in the game because those missing heart containers were taunting me. It’s also a very good entry point for newcomers as there’s no real reliance on prior knowledge. After exposition grandad explains what tragedy befell the world whilst you were in your weird waterbed, whether you unlock the backstory is up to you. If you want to learn the truth and search for hidden lore, it’s there for you. If you want to run around burning everything to the ground like some demented pyromaniac, go for it. Just don’t blame me if you catch alight.

Meet Exposition Grandad/Tutorial Elder/That Creepy Guy Who Keeps Following Me/JUST GIVE ME THE PARAGLIDER

What game would you like me to cover next? Leave your suggestion in the comments! If you enjoy my articles, hit that follow button and go follow my twitter @OurMindGames to keep up to date with my various antics. I often do polls on there to determine future content so don’t miss out on having your say!

Until next week,

CaitlinRC

The Phoenix Wright Trilogy – Object to Everything

Posted on by in Gaming

There are many game concepts that you never really think would make a successful gaming franchise. From farming to banking, the world of video games has a remarkable ability to make the dull seem fascinating. A lot of children are started on lifelong career paths through the medium of gaming – though I’d recommend not following in Agent 47’s footsteps… One such vocation is that of a defence attorney. The idea of pouring over files and obsessing over every tiny detail of an eyewitness statement is many people’s idea of hell. So, basing a gaming series around it seems to be a bit of a “Marmite” situation.

My only real experience with the Phoenix Wright games was through the various memes related to it. I knew that you screamed objection and that for some weird reason there was an orca as a witness in one of the later games? When the crossover game between Professor Layton and Phoenix Wright came out, I was enthralled by the characters and the court system (though I did fail a lot to begin with). So, when I heard the original trilogy was being remastered and brought to the Nintendo Switch, I was more than excited. Analytical thinking and finding logical solutions to problems have always been my strong suit, so it was nice to have another game series that I could throw myself into.

The Phoenix Wright games are extremely text-based, with the most interaction required being analysing a scene or rewinding a security type to spot an issue. So, if you don’t have the patience for that style of game, then this series probably isn’t for you – go watch a playthrough of it online instead! However, as a lover of story-driven games and deep characters, I admit that I have fallen hopelessly in love with the series and am plotting to get the other games in the series (eventually, after all I am a student).

True friendship is screaming at each other across a courtroom.

The main aspect of Phoenix Wright that speaks to people, is the interactions between the characters. Whether you are watching Phoenix and Edgeworth battle it out in the courtroom, Maya encouraging them from the side or Gumshoe having his salary cut, you are constantly rooting for the characters (or their redemption in some more whip happy prosecutors). This, combined with the intriguing storylines, creates a game series and a universe that has kept a loyal fanbase all these years. Coming into it so late, I can see the passion and creativity that has been poured into every detail of this game series, and I’ve only played the original trilogy!

What I found most interesting about the games is the fact that they play with your expectations. Obviously, as a game about being a defence attorney, your aim in each case is to successfully defend your client and prove them innocent. However, there are quite a lot of moments where you aren’t sure about whether you’ll succeed or even if you are meant to succeed. This is especially true of the second game in the trilogy which challenges you to make a choice in the final case, that you are terrified of the outcome of. If you haven’t experienced it and don’t want to be spoiled, skip this next paragraph!

My whip happy child who needs anger management lessons.

 (SPOILERS):

Phoenix and the gang are at a hotel watching an awards show when a murder occurs. Soon, you realise that Maya has gone missing. You are forced to take on the case of Matt Engarde, otherwise Maya’s life will be forfeit. The entire case revolves around trying to find Maya as well as proving Matt Engarde’s innocence. However. After investigating, you realise that your client is guilty of the murder. He hired a hitman to take out his rival, the same hitman that is holding Maya hostage to ensure you cooperate. You are faced with the choice of gambling on a rescue attempt by the police or letting a cruel psychopath roam free. Depending on how the case ends, you receive either the “Good” or the “Bad” ending.

(END OF SPOILERS):

In these kinds of story driven games, you don’t expect something so dramatic to happen. Despite the serious tones of the cases, there are elements of humour and general ridiculousness (looking at you Polly) throughout the game, so having a case turn into such a tense and fearful affair for all involved was a dramatic yet welcome experience for the player. Considering I’d purchased the trilogy, I knew roughly what the outcome would be and was certain that my choices wouldn’t have much of an impact but the steady fear and increasing suspense throughout those darker cases are what makes Phoenix Wright shine.

This is a game series that I recommend you experience for yourself. It has remarkable storytelling, a great cast of characters and a gorgeous visual style, as well as all the court cases. There are dozens of dedicated walkthroughs for the more complex aspects of the cases (looking at you Blue Badger security footage), meaning that you don’t need to spend two days banging your head against a wall because you presented the wrong piece of evidence. Each game has an initial case that acts as a tutorial into how the mechanics will work, so you don’t need any experience with these games to enjoy them.

I object to EVERYTHING

Honestly, it was a game series that I’m going to go back to soon. I don’t often replay games but this world that has been built by Capcom, is amazing and I’m genuinely excited to find out more about it. The sheer joy and satisfaction from successfully pressing a witness or spotting a contradiction, is ridiculously enjoyable.

Apologies this one is a bit shorter, I’m a very busy bean! Breath Of The Wild is next week’s article!

– CaitlinRC

Dungeons and Dragons – Brilliantly Weird

Posted on by in Gaming, tabletop

Whenever people think of gaming, it’s mostly about the next generation of consoles and how many individual hairs you can make out on a character’s arm. However, tabletop gaming is one genre that is often overlooked. When you think tabletop games, a lot of people’s minds go to those classic board games such as Monopoly and Scrabble, or Cluedo. A large amount of my childhood was spent playing those games – to the point where anytime my sister suggests we play Monopoly, I resist the urge to make a run for it. Despite a keen interest for most of my life in the wider world of tabletop gaming, I never really dove into it until 2016.

Every so often, my secondary school friends and I would go to the board game café in Oxford (Thirsty Meeples if any of you ever want to give it a go) and try out all sorts of games. From exploring haunted mansions to accusing one another of being a spy, some of our favourite memories have come from those sessions and I still love to go back from time to time.

Probably the most well-known tabletop game (at least to people my age) is Dungeons and Dragons. Whether you’ve seen it being played in tv shows or been dragged into it by your partner, most people have at least heard of it, even if they have no idea what it entails. I found D&D in year 5 when I was in my primary school’s tiny library which was mostly made up of worn books from charity shops. One of the shelves had a series of books called the Endless Quest. Despite being released in the 1980s/1990’s, they’d ended up in my school and I adored them.

Fun Fact: I used to write my own choose your own adventures.

In the style of Choose Your Own Adventure stories (like the Sonic one I used to read almost every day as a kid),  but based in the D&D worlds, these books gave you a fleshed out character with a backstory, that you followed through to one of the various endings. I can say with clear certainty that these books sparked my interest in fantasy writing, which is a genre that I read frequently and occasionally write in. Once I hit secondary school, I watched people play D&D online and read everything I could get my hands on but never got to play until I hit university.

I’ve been actively playing D&D for nearly two years now and I can honestly say that some of my best memories have come from those sessions. Having a portion of time set aside each week to just be someone else and to face the wacky shenanigans that the DM has created, is a great comfort. I know that no matter what garbage the world throws at me, I still have something to escape to and I have friends who will be there for me, even if I’m punching their character at the time. I do love playing as a character and escaping into it, but the role of DM always appealed to me, right from the start.

From writing to art to weird ideas that pop into my head late at night, I’ve always been a creative person. I can’t tell you how many stories I’ve written in different worlds, how many odd characters I’ve sketched concept art of and full storylines I’ve fleshed out but never properly written. When I realised that my work could bring joy to others, it inspired me to do more and to improve, something that I try to apply to everything that I do. So, when I decided that I wanted to try my hand at running a session, I was both excited and terrified. Especially since I’d somehow managed to agree to a session with seven players (SEVEN IS TOO MANY I CAN SAY THAT WITH CONFIDENCE)

Simultaneously the best five hours and most stressful five hours of my life. BRILLIANT.

After several weeks of preparation, panicking and sitting down with each of my players to help them through the process of creating a character, it was time to run the session. I had created a simple world, one focused on two warring cities, leaving plenty of room for change and expansion if my players liked what I had made. More than anything, I wanted my players to enjoy themselves. Our session was in the middle of exam season and we all had a lot going on in our personal lives, so an afternoon of just laughter and ridiculous antics was something that we all needed. Looking back on it, it was probably the second-best weekend of the year (with first going to Rezzed) and probably the most I’ve laughed in a long time.

The main message to take from D&D is that it is entirely what you make of it. If you want to go all in and have a detailed backstory for every NPC, region and rock that your players come across, go for it. If you’re just making it up as you go along and only really have names for the core elements of your story, that’s great too! No player or DM will be the same, meaning that basically anything is possible. For example, my players in their attempt to escape a jail cell, decided to distract the guard by singing One Direction, then failed to steal his keys so the sorcerer of the group chose to blast half the guys face off with their Chromatic Orb spell (or as they referred to it, DEADLY BALL OF DEATH). It also produced probably the most relatable quote for all DM’s:

“You can build the most intricate world you want, but someone will throw a sandwich at it” – CaitlinRC, 2019. Just replace the sandwich with any of the weird things your players get up to and it’s far too relatable.

I give myself two months before I have more dice than clothes.

As overwhelming as D&D can appear to new players, there’s not actually a lot to it. Sure, the character sheet looks intimidating but at its core, D&D is about roleplaying and the luck of the dice. You can have a ridiculously sneaky thief who sets off every alarm in the building, just by them failing a roll. It’s an experience that’s hard to put into words because it’s such a personal experience. I’ve only run one session and I can say that hands down it was the most fun I’ve had playing the game yet. Even if my players did make me want to pull my hair out sometimes (looking at the player who decided to run away from literally every plot point), I can’t wait to run a game for them again.

There’s an incredibly satisfying thing about D&D. Whether it’s successfully pulling off a ridiculous manoeuvre that really shouldn’t work out but does (like using a bomb to allow you to surf your shield over a wall) or watching as your players unravel the prophecy you gave them, you feel a sense of joy and achievement. Even though it’s all fictional and often luck based, sometimes having those little wins can have a big impact on your mood. I know from experience that I’ve walked away from games with a massive grin on my face and memories that can still make me laugh to this day. Having something like that in your life can be a major boost to your mental health.

Obviously, there is so much more to tabletop games than just D&D, but I haven’t yet had the chance to explore those. I’ve had a brief run in Call Of Cthulhu and had a phenomenal time at Rezzed playing various board games (seriously the board game room at Rezzed is great, people should spend way more time in it) but overall, I have only scratched the surface of this incredible genre of gaming. If you have any suggestions of tabletop games I should try, or just regular games, do let me know, I’d love to try any and all of them!

Until next week,

CaitlinRC